Stop means for a typographical composing machine



Jain. 21, 1958 H. e. ELLIOTT 2,320,543

STOP MEANS FOR A TYPOGRAPHICAL COMPQSINGMACHINE Filed Sept. 5, 1952 hied rates STOP WAN 503 A TYPOGRAPHICAL COMPOS- ING MACHINE ApplicationSeptember 5, 1952, Serial No. 308,048

3 Claims. (Cl. 199-18) This invention relates to typographical composingmachines of the general organization represented in United StatesLetters Patent to O. Mergenthaler, No. 436,532, wherein circulatingmatrices and spacehands are composed in line in an assembling elevatorby the operation of a keyboard, the elevator raised to line transferposition, the composed line transferred therefrom to the face of a moldfor the casting of a type bar or slug, and the matrices and spacehandsthereafter separated and returned to their places of storage. Moreparticularly, the invention relates to machines of that class adapted tobe equipped with an automatic control unit, such as the Teletypesetterunit, which automatically operates the keyboard and raises theassembling elevator.

In these machines, the character bearing matrices are stored inmagazines and are selectively released therefrom in response to codeperforations in a tape. Upon release, the matrices fall by gravity ontoan inclined continuously moving conveyor belt which transports them toan assembler chute. The matrices travel through the assembler chute andare directed thereby in front of a rotating star- 3 wheel which stacksthem one by one in the assembler elevator in the order of their release.

When the machine is operating at high speeds under the control of thetape and without supervision, the matrices travel through the assemblerchute at very appreciable velocities and, due to conditions beyondcontrol, they occasionally jam or pile up in the assembler chute.Notwithstanding any such jamming, the feed of the tape continues untilthe last matrix of the line has been released, thus aggravating thecondition. When the end of the line is reached, the tape feed isautomatically interrupted for the raising of the assembler elevator, butthe elevator is prevented from rising, due to the short condition of theline, by a safety device such as shown and claimed in a pendingapplication of Louis Rossetto, Serial No. 286,986, filed May 9, 1952,now U. S. Patent No. 2,681,138. Although the feed of the tape is notcontinued after the completion of the line until the clogged conditionof the assembler chute is remedied, nevertheless the release ofadditional matrices after the jam occurs and prior to the completion ofthe line only adds to the pile up and requires additional time wasted incleaning out the jam, not to mention possible damage to the matrices ormachine parts as a result of the pile up.

According to the present invention, provision is made for detecting apile up of matrices in the assembler chute and immediately stopping theautomatic control unit at the initial stage of jamming.

For a complete understanding of the invention, reference may be had tothe accompanying drawings and the detailed description which follows.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a view of an electrical control circuit contemplated by thepresent invention, and illustrating the assembling portion of themachine in front elevation and a portion of the drive mechanism of theautomatic control unit in rear elevation;

atent Fig. 2 is an enlarged front elevation of the assembler chute,illustrating a matrix jam; and

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the control unit drive mechanism shown inFig. 1.

The character bearing matrices x are selectively released from theirstorage magazine (not shown) and fall by gravity between guides 1 in avertical assembler entrance 2 onto an inclined continuously movingconveyor belt 3, passing around a lower driving pulley 4 and an upperidler pulley (not shown), which belt discharges the matrices into anassembler chute formed by a pair of lower parallel rails 5 and an upperresiliently mounted finger 6. In some forms, the finger 6 guides thematrices by their side faces and in other forms by their projectingears. The invention is equally applicable to either form.

The matrices travel through the assembler chute and are directed infront of a constantly rotating starwheel 7 which stacks them one by one,in the order of their release, in the assembling elevator 8 and againsta yielding line supporting finger 9. The matrices are composed in linealong with spacehands y, separately assembled through a chute 10; and,when the line is complete, the elevator 8 is raised and the linetransferred therefrom to the casting mechanism, all in the usual manner.

The automatic operation of the keyboard is controlled by the passage ofa perforated tape through a record reader mechanism, such as theTeletypesetter control mechanism shown and described in U. S. Patent No.2,091,286 and others. For present purposes, it suffices to say that thetape is advanced by a cam actuated ratchet in a step by step manner froma driven shaft 12. This shaft 12 is connected through a clutch mechanism11 (see Fig. 3) to a worm or spiral gear 13 on a shaft 13 and the gear13 is in mesh with a worm or spiral gear 14 on a shaft 15, which lattershaft is driven by means of a belt 16 and pulley 17 from the so-calledintermediate shaft of the machine.

In the normal operation of the tape control mechanism, when a completeline has been composed in the assembling elevator 8, the rotation of thetape advancing shaft 12 is interrupted by the movement of a lever 18about its pivot 18 into engagement With the shaft. The shaft 12 isprovided with a projecting lug which, in the operated position of thelever 18, is adapted to enter a hole 20 formed therein, said holepresenting a beveled or inclined edge 20 which engages the lug i9 andcauses the disengagement of the clutch 11 and thus brings the shaft 12to a stop. While the feed of the tape is stopped, the assemblingelevator is raised to deliver the line to transfer position. When theelevator returns to line receiving position, the lever 18 is pivotedback to inoperative position, releasing the lug 3.9 and permitting there-engagement of the clutch 11 to restore the driving connection to thetape advancing mechanism.

The foregoing parts and their manner of operation are standard and wellknown, but, if desired, the above cited patents may be referred to for amore complete understanding of a type composing machine and theautomatic control unit therefor.

Turning now to the present invention, the assembler chute finger 6,which is pivotally mounted at b and spring urged in a counterclockwisedirection, as viewed in the drawings, is provided at its upper end withan upward extension 22. A switch 23, having leaf contacts 23 23 ismounted on one of the plates of the assembler entrance 2 and, as bestshown in Fig. 2, when matrices begin to pile up in the assembler chute,the chute finger will be pivoted in a clockwise direction, causing theupper extremity of the extension 22 to close the contacts of the switch.Under normal conditions, of course, the extent of movement of theextension 22 will not be great enough to close the contacts.

The closing of the switch 23 completes an electrical circuit from avoltage source 24 to a solenoid 25, and the operation of the solenoidattracts the lower end of a pivotal lever 26, the upper endof which isconnected to the lower end of the lever 18 by means of a link 27. Thus,the energization of the solenoid pivots the lever 18 into operativecontact with the lug 19 on the shaft 12 and stops the feed of the tapein themanner above described.

When the pile up of matrices in. the assembler chute is removed, thespring urged chute finger 6 will return to its normal position, and theswitch 23 will be opened, breaking the electrical circuit. With thesolenoid thus deenergized, the levers 18 and 26 are restored toinoperative position by springs 28 and 29, respectively, and normaloperation of the tape is resumed.

The invention has been shown and'described in preferred form only and byway of example, but many variations and modifications may be madetherein which will still be comprised Within its spirit. For example, ifdesired, the electrical controls may be replaced by mechanical controls.it is to be understood, therefore, that the invention is not limited toany specific form or embodiment, except insofar as such limitations arespecified in the appended claims.

What is claimed is: 1. In a typographical composing machine equippedwith an automatic tape control unit for automatically releasing matricesfrom a storage magazine, the combination of an assembling elevatorwherein the matrices are composed in line, in the order of theirrelease, a continuously moving assembler belt for delivering thereleased matrices individually and successively to the assemblingelevator, an assembler chute through which the matrices pass on theirway to the assembling elevator, said chute comprising a lower fixedguide rail which directly engages the passing matrices at their lowerside and an upper pivotal finger which directly engages the passingmatrices at their upper side, said upper pivotal finger being mounted topartake of a limited variable normal pivotal movement sufiicient inextent to accommodate and guide matrices of different thicknesses undernormal conditions and also mountedto partake of an abnormal pivotalmovement caused by a pile up of matrices in the assembler chute underabnormal conditions during the composition of any given line, and meansunaffected by a variable normal pivotal movement of the chute finger butactivated by an abnormal pivotal movement thereof to arrest theoperation of the tape control unit.

2. In a typographical composing machine equipped with a tape controlunit for automatically releasing matrices from a storage magazine, thecombination of an assembling elevator wherein the matrices are composedin line in the order of their release, a continuously moving assemblerbelt for delivering the released matrices individually and successivelyto the assembling elevator,

an assembler chute through which the matrices pass on their way to theassembling elevator, said chute comprising a lower fixed rail whichdirectly engages the passing matrices at their lower side and an upperpivotal finger which directly engages the passing matrices at theirupperside, said upper pivotal finger being mounted to partake of a limitedvariable normal pivotal movement suificient in extent to accommodate andguide matrices of different thicknesses under normal conditions and alsomounted to partake of an abnormal pivotal movement caused by a pile upof matrices in the assembler chute under abnormal conditions during thecomposition of any given line, and an electrical switch unafiected .by avariable normal pivotal movement of the chute finger but activated byan. abnormal pivotal movement thereof to arrest the operation of thetape control unit.

3. In a typographical composing machine equipped with a tape controlunit for automatically releasing the matrices from a storage magazine,the combination of an assembling elevator wherein the matrices arecomposed in line in the order of their release, a continuously movingassembler belt for delivering the released matrices individually andsuccessively to the assembling elevator, an assembler chute throughwhich the matrices pass on their way to the assembling elevator, saidchute comprising a lower fixed rail which directly engages the passingmatrices at their lower side and an upper pivotal finger which directlyengages the passing matrices at their upper side, said upper pivotalfinger being mounted to partake of a limited variable normal pivotalmovement sufiicient in extent to accommodate and guide matrices ofdifierent thicknesses under normal conditions and also mounted topartake of an abnormal pivotal movement caused by a pile up of matricesin the assembler chute under abnormal conditions during the compositionof any given line, a rotatable shaft for advancing the tape, drivingmeans for said shaft, including aclutch and a pivotal lever which servesboth to arrest the rotation of the tape advancing shaft and to disengagethe clutch, an electrical solenoid for actuating said lever, and anelectrical switch unaffected by a variable normal pivotal movement ofthe chute finger but activated by an abnormal pivotal movement thereofto energize the solenoid and thus arrest the advance of the tape.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS425,140 Mergenthaler Apr. 8, 1890 1,163,985, Drewell Dec. 14, 19151,218,988 Droitcour Mar. 13, 1917 1,970,566 Kleinschmidt Aug. 21, 19341,970,567 Potts Aug. 21, 1934. 2,086,547 Goetz July 13, 1937 2,129,230ONiel Sept. 6, 1938 2,138,785 Freund Nov. 29, 1938 2,259,842 StougesOct. 21,1941 2,325,666 Czachorski Aug. 3, 1943 2,551,468 Schutt May 1,1951 2,574,005 Albin Nov. 6, 1951 2,670,954 Bach Mar. 2, 1954 FOREIGNPATENTS 116,446 Great Britain June 13, 1918 cont

